How did you help your dog get old gracefully?

MisterDubs303

This is Buster. He's a Shar pei mix, and almost 12 years old. He's been my buddy since about a year after my divorce 11 years ago. Until this Spring, we haven't walked regularly for about 6 years, but I decided I wanted to get into shape, and I knew Buster needed to get in shape, too. At first, I couldn't believe that he would peter out at about 2 miles, but he got better and we walk 5 miles just about every day (sometimes we've walked as many as 12). Lately, though, despite always being super excited to go on our walks, he's sort of become a stubborn pain in the butt. I can deal with that.

What is getting to me, though, is that I can tell that the walks are taking a toll on his old bones. He's been a trooper, but I get the feeling that our 5 mile walks are rapidly becoming too much. Today, he fell down as we were coming into the house after our walk, then he immediately sort of fell down the stairs. This isn't the first time.

In the last 6 months, he's gone almost completely deaf, and I don't think he has much peripheral vision. About two weeks ago, I moved his bed out from under mine (which is kind of elevated) because I can tell he's been having a hard time crouching and crawling in and out of there. It is making me very sad to see his abilities fade as he is getting older, and I don't know how to best adapt. I can take him on shorter walks, but I'm afraid of accommodating him right into inability. Also, it seems pretty inconsistent. Some days he does great for 5 miles, and some days it seems like 2 miles is too much.

How have you adapted to help a dog that's reaching the end of their active days? Any insight or advice would greatly appreciated, as I'm really getting bummed out about my buddy getting old.

sarah_ep

*bump*

My dog is still active, but I am curious about the responses. I'd be bummed too.

Sieggie

Lost two Golden Retrievers in the past two years or so (they we're 10 & almost 11 years old). Please, don't try to push him past his limits, especially if he is losing his hearing and eyesight....major senses for dogs.

This is killing me as I'm reliving my dogs passings. Glaucoma and cancer in one....he wouldn't even move on a leash in the house....started falling down stairs....it wasn't fair to keep him alive for us.

Other baby girl went fast ..Leukemia....wouldn't eat, four days later after confirming with many tests it was the diagnosis we chose once again to be humane and not keep her around for our sake.

You will make it through this. We now have a 20 month old Golden Puppy who is the world to us. Minimal shots, no dog food, all natural diet like people used to feed their dogs years ago.....just when did the multimillion dollar business of an entire aisle of pet foods show up in our supermarkets?

Please just make decisions for Buster's comfort, not yours.

Sorry, I feel your pain!

Sieggie.

danaclang

Check with your vet, there are medications that address arthritis in dogs (similar to Celebrex for people). It's hard when they get that age. I have a 9 year old Doberman/Black Lab mix - he's my baby and I got him right after my ex and I split up so i know how you feel. If you don't want to go the route of Rx you can try Glucosamine, you can find that at the major retail pet stores. Good luck

livnlite

Talk to your vet. It is sometimes hard to detect pain in a pet who can not communicate. They can become so distracted by excitement they can actually perform regular tasks like walking with their 'pack members' while in fact they are experiencing the pain of arthritis etc. They are so hardwired to please that they can often suffer in silence.

If he is experiencing weak spells after a long walk like that, he may be experiencing pain due to overdoing it. Dogs are very much like people. Shorter walks will not reduce his ability to walk as much as it will reduce his discomfort.

Your vet can assess his condition. Dogs can have joint and cartilage degeneration just like people as they age. If you find him panting a lot (even when he's not over heated), he may be experiencing pain.

dmpizza

My three dogs are still healthy, but my heart goes out to you and Buster.

FairyMiss

there are lots of things you can do. the place place to start is with your vet, who can give him a full senior work up, blood work, possible xrays to see what his back and hips are doing. Their are medications and supplements that can help. To start with Glucosamione, to help the old joints. and Nsaids, to reliever the pain and imflamation and other medications and supplements depending on what hte blood work shoes, to help and organs needing help.

if he is having trouble with stairs, limit his access to them.
And with dogs just like people when the vision starts to go lots of light is need. so keep your rooms well lit. even try some nightlights at night.
as far as hearing loss, if not cause be infection, well the only thing you can do for him there is lots of patients.

also for the old bones and joing orthapedic pet beds are a real help, there are some reall nice ones out there.

oh also if you have hard wood, or tile floors, or anythig slick, carpet runs through those rooms will give him better traction. on of the biggest problems olds dogs can have with walking getting up is feet slipping on hard floors.

FairyMiss

Lost two Golden Retrievers in the past two years or so (they we're 10 & almost 11 years old). Please, don't try to push him past his limits, especially if he is losing his hearing and eyesight....major senses for dogs.

This is killing me as I'm reliving my dogs passings. Glaucoma and cancer in one....he wouldn't even move on a leash in the house....started falling down stairs....it wasn't fair to keep him alive for us.

Other baby girl went fast ..Leukemia....wouldn't eat, four days later after confirming with many tests it was the diagnosis we chose once again to be humane and not keep her around for our sake.

You will make it through this. We now have a 20 month old Golden Puppy who is the world to us. Minimal shots, no dog food, all natural diet like people used to feed their dogs years ago.....just when did the multimillion dollar business of an entire aisle of pet foods show up in our supermarkets?

Please just make decisions for Buster's comfort, not yours.

Sorry, I feel your pain!

Sieggie.

their are lots of blind and deaf dogs that do well, losing sight and hearing is not reason to off them

MisterDubs303

If you don't want to go the route of Rx you can try Glucosamine, you can find that at the major retail pet stores. Good luck

Maybe that's part of my question. Does Glucosamine, etc. work relatively quickly, or is it something I should have started a year or two ago? Also, I'm sort of curious how long dogs last after they start having problems with their hips, etc. I'm baffled that he'll run around the yard, but occasionally have problems negotiating the stairs. He's not dead yet, I just don't have experience with aging dogs and the nature of their declining abilities.

mea9

I had great success cooking for my dog you have to research and be very careful of proportions but dog food, like human fast food, isn’t the best quality food. Wet is always better than dry but, if you can’t cook, a raw food diet might be the easiest, freshest and best available at this time.

Just like people glucosamine with chondroitin with really help with his joints. If he hasn’t been going out regularly for an extended period of time, he might be vitamin d deficient (dogs don’t make their own) so a good cod liver oil supplement would really help him out with his bone density as well as his overall health. Don’t pinch on the cost of the supplements – here you get what you pay for.

If you have access to an acupuncturist it makes a huge difference. That can be expensive as well as time consuming… He may need 2x week to start… That is typical with anybody.

Just pick what you can do and do that consistently. The most important are the food quality and cod liver oil supplements.

mea9

If you don't want to go the route of Rx you can try Glucosamine, you can find that at the major retail pet stores. Good luck

Maybe that's part of my question. Does Glucosamine, etc. work relatively quickly, or is it something I should have started a year or two ago? Also, I'm sort of curious how long dogs last after they start having problems with their hips, etc. I'm baffled that he'll run around the yard, but occasionally have problems negotiating the stairs. He's not dead yet, I just don't have experience with aging dogs and the nature of their declining abilities.

You'll notice improvement in about 2 weeks. It takes about 6-8weeks to be really effective.

FairyMiss

If you don't want to go the route of Rx you can try Glucosamine, you can find that at the major retail pet stores. Good luck

Maybe that's part of my question. Does Glucosamine, etc. work relatively quickly, or is it something I should have started a year or two ago? Also, I'm sort of curious how long dogs last after they start having problems with their hips, etc. I'm baffled that he'll run around the yard, but occasionally have problems negotiating the stairs. He's not dead yet, I just don't have experience with aging dogs and the nature of their declining abilities.

glucosamine takes a bit to work , what you can do i start him on the glucosamine and Nsaids (if bloodwork is good) and as the glucosamine becomes affective (few weeks) you can ween him down on the Nsaids ( i woudl go with Metacam, or Rimadyl) to the least amount that makes him comfortable, and as needed. Also i would switch him to a good quality senior food, brands i would recomend are Purina pro plan, Science diet, or Euckanuba, followed by Natures recipie and natrual choice.. the first three brands are the ones who have done all the research.

as far as how long. that all depends on the dog, the condition of the hips , and back (often its the back) and what you do for him. the vet will be able to tell alot from some xrays.

bythe way I am a vet tech of about 25 years exp. so any questions you may have , feel free to message me.

FairyMiss

I had great success cooking for my dog you have to research and be very careful of proportions but dog food, like human fast food, isn’t the best quality food. Wet is always better than dry but, if you can’t cook, a raw food diet might be the easiest, freshest and best available at this time.

Just like people glucosamine with chondroitin with really help with his joints. If he hasn’t been going out regularly for an extended period of time, he might be vitamin d deficient (dogs don’t make their own) so a good cod liver oil supplement would really help him out with his bone density as well as his overall health. Don’t pinch on the cost of the supplements – here you get what you pay for.

If you have access to an acupuncturist it makes a huge difference. That can be expensive as well as time consuming… He may need 2x week to start… That is typical with anybody.

Just pick what you can do and do that consistently. The most important are the food quality and cod liver oil supplements.

just want to note that raw foods can be dangerous to dogs, they are subject to the same bactiera you can be.

also want to add on there are pet chiropractors , we have had one work with our office, really seems to help the fur kids alot

kimtpa1417

Sorry to hear about your pooch..... but honestly exericise is good for him. Maybe not 5 miles but them being inactive will increase his joint pain.

One of my dogs is 14 yrs old and he aged very quickly and our walks went from miles to 1/2 a mile and I would have to bring him home. He gets up really slow and doesn't play with the others like he use to. I talk to the vet because all his test come back good he is just aged and slow getting around. The vet said it is starting to get painful for him to get up and down so they put him on prednisone. It really helped. Although we cant walk for miles he doesn't look like he is going to fall over on a short walk. Also weight can be a big issue, I had to get my dog to drop 5lbs to get some of the weight off his legs.

My dogs are like my kids, I am dreading he leaves us so I am doing what it takes to help make it more comfortable for him so that he can stay active

FairyMiss

Sorry to hear about your pooch..... but honestly exericise is good for him. Maybe not 5 miles but them being inactive will increase his joint pain.

One of my dogs is 14 yrs old and he aged very quickly and our walks went from miles to 1/2 a mile and I would have to bring him home. He gets up really slow and doesn't play with the others like he use to. I talk to the vet because all his test come back good he is just aged and slow getting around. The vet said it is starting to get painful for him to get up and down so they put him on prednisone. It really helped. Although we cant walk for miles he doesn't look like he is going to fall over on a short walk. Also weight can be a big issue, I had to get my dog to drop 5lbs to get some of the weight off his legs.

My dogs are like my kids, I am dreading he leaves us so I am doing what it takes to help make it more comfortable for him so that he can stay active

there are so much better thing to put him on the prednisone. an nsaid is much better and better for him.. prednisone for this kind of thing is a very out dated treatmen. I would look into it more if i were you

sagetracey

And remember that arthritis in animals is like arthritis in humans, some days are better than others, so try to work out what times of day suit him better for exercise, help him get started slowly on other days.

mea9

I had great success cooking for my dog you have to research and be very careful of proportions but dog food, like human fast food, isn’t the best quality food. Wet is always better than dry but, if you can’t cook, a raw food diet might be the easiest, freshest and best available at this time.

Just like people glucosamine with chondroitin with really help with his joints. If he hasn’t been going out regularly for an extended period of time, he might be vitamin d deficient (dogs don’t make their own) so a good cod liver oil supplement would really help him out with his bone density as well as his overall health. Don’t pinch on the cost of the supplements – here you get what you pay for.

If you have access to an acupuncturist it makes a huge difference. That can be expensive as well as time consuming… He may need 2x week to start… That is typical with anybody.

Just pick what you can do and do that consistently. The most important are the food quality and cod liver oil supplements.

just want to note that raw foods can be dangerous to dogs, they are subject to the same bactiera you can be.

also want to add on there are pet chiropractors , we have had one work with our office, really seems to help the fur kids alot

Home cooking is absolutely better but the stuff that's in the commercial foods is gross (3D animals, garbage meat mixed with charcoal, euthanized animals including collars and plastic bag they put them in). Look it up. Even the best ones. Dry food causes and contributes to kidney damage and failure. A raw diet will be better than that. Dogs handle bacteria far better than we do. Really, Look it up. I loathe commercial pet food. Vets keep selling it because people buy it and they are generally invested.

Jennloella

glucosamine and chondroitin are life savers for an old dog's social life.....

FairyMiss

I had great success cooking for my dog you have to research and be very careful of proportions but dog food, like human fast food, isn’t the best quality food. Wet is always better than dry but, if you can’t cook, a raw food diet might be the easiest, freshest and best available at this time.

Just like people glucosamine with chondroitin with really help with his joints. If he hasn’t been going out regularly for an extended period of time, he might be vitamin d deficient (dogs don’t make their own) so a good cod liver oil supplement would really help him out with his bone density as well as his overall health. Don’t pinch on the cost of the supplements – here you get what you pay for.

If you have access to an acupuncturist it makes a huge difference. That can be expensive as well as time consuming… He may need 2x week to start… That is typical with anybody.

Just pick what you can do and do that consistently. The most important are the food quality and cod liver oil supplements.

just want to note that raw foods can be dangerous to dogs, they are subject to the same bactiera you can be.

also want to add on there are pet chiropractors , we have had one work with our office, really seems to help the fur kids alot

Home cooking is absolutely better but the stuff that's in the commercial foods is gross (3D animals, garbage meat mixed with charcoal, euthanized animals including collars and plastic bag they put them in). Look it up. Even the best ones. Dry food causes and contributes to kidney damage and failure. A raw diet will be better than that. Dogs handle bacteria far better than we do. Really, Look it up. I loathe commercial pet food. Vets keep selling it because people buy it and they are generally invested.

sorry to tell you that is just internet bull**** , you are so misinformed. I go by who can show me the research. and the GOOD companies have decades and decades of research. by the way we sell very little food at our hosipital


Raw food will cause so much more problems the and highly researched quality diets, but if you want to keep going by the internet bull**** that any wacko can put up be my guest, I will Keep feeding, and recomending those diets who have REAL research behind them from companies that can SHOW ME that resarch.

FairyMiss

I had great success cooking for my dog you have to research and be very careful of proportions but dog food, like human fast food, isn’t the best quality food. Wet is always better than dry but, if you can’t cook, a raw food diet might be the easiest, freshest and best available at this time.

Just like people glucosamine with chondroitin with really help with his joints. If he hasn’t been going out regularly for an extended period of time, he might be vitamin d deficient (dogs don’t make their own) so a good cod liver oil supplement would really help him out with his bone density as well as his overall health. Don’t pinch on the cost of the supplements – here you get what you pay for.

If you have access to an acupuncturist it makes a huge difference. That can be expensive as well as time consuming… He may need 2x week to start… That is typical with anybody.

Just pick what you can do and do that consistently. The most important are the food quality and cod liver oil supplements.

just want to note that raw foods can be dangerous to dogs, they are subject to the same bactiera you can be.

also want to add on there are pet chiropractors , we have had one work with our office, really seems to help the fur kids alot

Home cooking is absolutely better but the stuff that's in the commercial foods is gross (3D animals, garbage meat mixed with charcoal, euthanized animals including collars and plastic bag they put them in). Look it up. Even the best ones. Dry food causes and contributes to kidney damage and failure. A raw diet will be better than that. Dogs handle bacteria far better than we do. Really, Look it up. I loathe commercial pet food. Vets keep selling it because people buy it and they are generally invested.

and as far as dogs and bacteria. i know how they handle it , I have to treat them when the eat crap their owners feed them thinking its good for them because they saw it on the internet

Qarol

My Missy had ruptured disc surgery in March. Dachshunds are quite prone to back injuries. She's almost all healed and can walk, thankfully, but she's never going to be her old self again. We used to take her and Wilson for a mile walk everyday. She can do about half that now, easy. Sometimes 3/4 of a mile, but she's struggling as we get closer to home. She turned 14 in May. We just try to keep her as healthy as possible. All that matters to us is her company and her happiness.

go2grrl

This is Buster. He's a Shar pei mix, and almost 12 years old. He's been my buddy since about a year after my divorce 11 years ago. Until this Spring, we haven't walked regularly for about 6 years, but I decided I wanted to get into shape, and I knew Buster needed to get in shape, too. At first, I couldn't believe that he would peter out at about 2 miles, but he got better and we walk 5 miles just about every day (sometimes we've walked as many as 12). Lately, though, despite always being super excited to go on our walks, he's sort of become a stubborn pain in the butt. I can deal with that.

Buster looks like a doll, but he's also quite the senior. To echo most everyone above, get him to the vet asap and get a Complete Blood Count and exam to rule out what you can. Dogs are resilient and wonderful and will run that extra mile for us even when we don't know they shouldn't be. He's not being stubborn, he just wants to chill. Our last dog was a German Shepherd and once he began stumbling we knew something wasn't right. 8 months later he died a horrific, swift cancer death. We were not prepared. But once it became apparent that going for long walks or tugs of war were too much, we just gave him his space, bought a harness/leash for his rear end so we could help him and down the stairs and made the house as comfortable as we could for him. He wanted nothing more than to lay by the front door and do his "job" so we didn't push him. I say spoil the hell out of Buster for as long as you can. Get him a heated bed, feed him all his favorites, cut back on his regular food if he's overweight and prepare yourself, as hard as that may be. He'll be fine even tho you may not be. But 5 or even one mile sounds like it's too much for him. Get your snuggle on!

MisterDubs303

Thank you all for your input and comments. )

SueInAz

We're going through much the same thing with Sierra, our nearly 13 year old Aussie Shepherd mix. She used to be able to go for miles and then pull backwards when she realized we were headed for home. We cut her walks down to 1 mile, then a half mile and now, even 1/4 mile is really almost too much for her. She's shaky and breathes hard for a long time after we get her home. Sometimes she'll fall walking up the 30° slope of our driveway when we get home. We have no stairs for her to negotiate, but she can no longer jump onto our bed, which used to be her favorite place to be, and in the last few weeks, she can't even make the sofa nor put her paws on the counters to try to steal food.

Her hearing is shot - she doesn't even hear if we ask if she wants to go for a "walk" or wants a "treat" half the time - and her eyesight isn't what it used to be. We know her time is getting short but she seems to be happy and is healthy, otherwise. She has been eating a senior food with glucosamine and chondrotin for awhile now but even that can only do so much. We made the decision last week to stop walking her after the last 1/4 mile walk we took her for was just too much for her. It just about broke my heart. It's really the right decision for her, though, and we'll make sure she gets some exercise in the back yard as well as all of the love we can give her.

foremant86

You should try synflex for arthritis. It's really great and helps tremendously

http://www.synflexamerica.com/pet/synflex.php


I had a black lab who started getting arthritis in her hips around the age of 10 and by 12 she had slowed down a lot and we started giving her glucosamine suppliments and it helped a lot and she lived to be 14 1/2 years old and probably would kept going but I went out of town and left her with a friend and he fed her some really crappy dog food from the gas station and she bloated and died

I've known numerous people that use synflex and have had great results with their senior dogs.

I know a lot of people suggested going to your vet but all they will prescribe is something like Rimadyl and that can be very hard on the dogs kidneys

hanna1210

My "baby girl" is almost 15 years old. We've been hers since I was in 5th grade (I'm now 25). We've noticed that she doesn't do well walking on the streets with us. So, those walks have been shortened and we've decreased the speed in which we walk. Hoewever, she does better on hikes when we can let her off her leash and she can roam freely. We don't know precisely why she does so much better, but we think it has to do with her walking on soft ground and going at her own pace. You might want to look into parks or farms or wherever with open space with lots of grass.

Good luck with everything, I know just how important your four-legged friend is to your life. :flowerforyou:

FairyMiss

You should try synflex for arthritis. It's really great and helps tremendously

http://www.synflexamerica.com/pet/synflex.php


I had a black lab who started getting arthritis in her hips around the age of 10 and by 12 she had slowed down a lot and we started giving her glucosamine suppliments and it helped a lot and she lived to be 14 1/2 years old and probably would kept going but I went out of town and left her with a friend and he fed her some really crappy dog food from the gas station and she bloated and died

I've known numerous people that use synflex and have had great results with their senior dogs.

I know a lot of people suggested going to your vet but all they will prescribe is something like Rimadyl and that can be very hard on the dogs kidneys

actully rimadyl effects that liver ,and thats why blod work is done proir to .. and periodicly durning i am not familira with the prodcut you mention , what is synflex, i am curious as to what it is and if it works, we are alway looking for new things to help out our aging patients as it often takes combintations to truly make them comfortable

FairyMiss

You should try synflex for arthritis. It's really great and helps tremendously

http://www.synflexamerica.com/pet/synflex.php


I had a black lab who started getting arthritis in her hips around the age of 10 and by 12 she had slowed down a lot and we started giving her glucosamine suppliments and it helped a lot and she lived to be 14 1/2 years old and probably would kept going but I went out of town and left her with a friend and he fed her some really crappy dog food from the gas station and she bloated and died

I've known numerous people that use synflex and have had great results with their senior dogs.

I know a lot of people suggested going to your vet but all they will prescribe is something like Rimadyl and that can be very hard on the dogs kidneys

actully rimadyl effects that liver ,and thats why blod work is done proir to .. and periodicly durning i am not familira with the prodcut you mention , what is synflex, i am curious as to what it is and if it works, we are alway looking for new things to help out our aging patients as it often takes combintations to truly make them comfortable

okay looked it up, it is a glucosamine product, very good, but sometimes in our aged pets more relief can be needed.

livnlite

If you don't want to go the route of Rx you can try Glucosamine, you can find that at the major retail pet stores. Good luck

Maybe that's part of my question. Does Glucosamine, etc. work relatively quickly, or is it something I should have started a year or two ago? Also, I'm sort of curious how long dogs last after they start having problems with their hips, etc. I'm baffled that he'll run around the yard, but occasionally have problems negotiating the stairs. He's not dead yet, I just don't have experience with aging dogs and the nature of their declining abilities.

Glucosamine works for some symptoms not all. Much is dependant upon what the problem is and what extreme. It may work for some but not for everyone. Animals are much the same as people when it comes to ailments. There is no one correct answer for your question "How Long" after starting to have problems with hips etc .. Each case is unique. Previous injuries, size and even bone structure/density are added complications and factors...not to mention environmental issues ( cold, dampness, barometric pressure changes).

Animals can become distracted by playful activities and may perform those activities while experiencing extreme pain. Their instinct for flight can become so overwhelming they can even try to flee with a broken leg (for instance) .. Arthritic pain pales in comparison to that type of trauma, so when you see them running around like a puppy .. They may feel fine for that little while, but pay the consequences afterward for overdoing it.

I experience THAT myself at times.

kristie_cla

Hi, so sorry to hear that your bestie is having some trouble!! It's hard to watch them age, when you'd rather that they stayed with you forever.

I've gone through this with three German Shepherds, two of which I lost this year to cancer and a brain tumor. (Kinda been a sucky year!) Anyway, all three of them were pretty large dogs (Scoobie: 130 pounds, Casey: 110 pounds, and Harley: 105 pounds) and all three of them had pretty long lives (13, 13, and 15+ years) so we definitely dealt with joint issues as they aged.

My oldest girl, Casey, had severe arthritis and was on Rimadyl (prescription) for many years. It is an NSAID and we had to do regular blood tests to be sure that her liver wasn't being damaged. It helped her tremendously for those years. Both of the other two were okay without prescriptions, but had OTC supplements for joint health. Dasuquin with MSM was recommended by our vet and seemed to work well. There was a dosing period (six weeks) where they took two pills per day, then down to one pill.

Another important fact that my vet stressed is that you need to keep the dog's weight down and on the lean side, especially once they've aged, to assist with mobility and joint health. For one of my dogs that meant diet dog food.

For my oldest shepherd, who was over 15 (ancient for a GSD), we had to deal with Degenerative Myelopathy. Basically, his spinal cord deteriorated and he had difficulty with his back legs. One thing that I found helpful was a Up & Out Lift Harness when we were going up and down the steps. He faltered often and this kept him from falling. That may help your boy too.

The first step, I think, is to make an appointment with your vet. Go through your questions and concerns and get his/her advice. I am lucky to have an extremely talented and caring vet, who understood that I would do nearly anything for these guys.

Keep in mind that you need to set limits for him, because he is unlikely to do it for himself. As an example, my arthritic girl would play frisbee til her legs fell off if I let her. She LOVED frisbee.

I hope all goes well and you have many, many happy years left with him! (Sorry this ended up long - can't stop talking about my dogs once I start). )

BigDaddyBRC

It's rough watching your best friend get old....mine is 17.5 years in age. She was starting to get old and lonely during the days 6 years ago, so I brought home a puppy. Best thing ever. She still motors around, but is going deaf and getting seriously grumpy. It'll be tough when that time comes...